Drivers of vehicles, such as cars, may desire to control several components of the vehicle for purposes of safety, comfort, or utility. As a result, vehicles typically have several controls to control one or more components of the vehicle. Some common controls in vehicles may include, for example, radio controls to set tuning or volume, climate controls to set air conditioning and heat levels, and defroster controls to set the level of defrosting of windows of the vehicle.
Often times, conventional controls on vehicles may be organized in clusters. For example, passenger cars may have a center console between the driver's side and the passenger's side at the front of a cab of the car where several control surfaces and interfaces are situated. Controls for the radio, navigation system, heater, air conditioners, and other components are often provided on the center console. The center console, in many cases, may be relatively crowded with controls due to the large number of components in modern vehicles that can be controlled or that otherwise require user interaction. Often times, the center console may extend from the dashboard of the vehicle at its top to the transmission tunnel at its bottom to fit all the controls required on the vehicle.
Typical control clusters and control surfaces on vehicles include a switch or other user input interface electrically coupled to an electronic device, such as a controller via wiring. The controller typically determines the switches or interface elements that are actuated and translates the same to a controllable function. Therefore, each control interface of the vehicle may have dedicated wiring or dedicated controller hardware. The controls and associated hardware add materials and complexity to a controls infrastructure. This may add undesired weight to a vehicle. Furthermore, the controls may be relatively expensive to implement due to considerable dedicated electrical infrastructure provided therefore. Additionally, repairs to vehicle controls may be relatively difficult as the repairs may require troubleshooting the electrical infrastructure associated with each of the controls.